The Logoisk Forestry Enterprise spoke about the advantages of growing forest‑forming species with a closed root system.

According to the speaker, the forest nursery grows the main forest‑forming species. Due to the die‑off of spruce plantations, more than 50 % of spruce forest crops are grown using the closed root system.

“This year, we have grown the first rotation - about 650 thousand spruce seedlings with a closed root system. In the second rotation, we will grow 860  thousand pine seedlings also with a closed root system, which will be used to supplement forest crops. Seedlings with a closed root system make it possible to extend the timeframe for planting and supplementing forest crops.” We started these works today. In addition, when growing plants with a closed root system, we are not dependent on weather conditions: we carry out watering ourselves, maintain the optimal temperature, and also carry out fertilizing,” Pyotr Shikshnyan shared.

Every year, the nursery grows 1.5–4 million seedlings of planting material, both those with a closed root system and ornamental planting seedlings for landscaping and sale to the public.

“Previously, the demand among people was more for coniferous trees, now it has shifted to deciduous, more blooming ones. However, it is impossible to say that the population is interested in any particular culture,” said the chief forester. - “Now the main goal of our nursery is to provide forestry with decent planting material. Therefore, in the autumn we plan to create about 100 hectares of forest crops. It is also necessary to produce about 300 hectares in addition to these forest crops,” concluded Petr Shikshnyan.

To grow ZKS seedlings, the nursery has special greenhouses. They are equipped with a weather station that automatically maintains the optimal temperature and humidity. Inside the greenhouses, there is an automatic irrigation system that can also provide plants with fertilization.